Gov. LePage pays fellow Rotarians a visit

Thursday

May 11, 2017 at 4:07 PMMay 11, 2017 at 4:18 PM

Shawn Sullivan

SANFORD — Gov. Paul LePage spoke about Maine's challenges when he visited local Rotarians and their guests at the Sanford Town Club on Thursday, May 11, and he also provided a state-level update on efforts toward bringing a theme park to the city.

Rotarian Elias Thomas introduced LePage, telling those gathered that the governor himself also is a Rotarian.

"It was really nice to see when he got of his car that he had a Rotary pin," Thomas said.

At the start of his presentation, LePage spoke of the state's accomplishments in recent years — paying off $750 million in debt to hospitals, reducing the structural gap from $1.3 billion to $160 million, and cuting the $4.4 billion gap in the retirement system by roughly 48 percent — and then delved into the issues Maine continues to face.

ON EDUCATION

LePage started with education, a system he described as "absolutely broken." He refuted those that claim he has made cuts to education throughout his administration and provided statistics from the state's Department of Education that showed increases for the system.

"It's not a steep increase," he said, "but I've not taken away — I've added."

The problem, LePage said, is that enrollment is "dropping so fast."

"We are suffering from an enormous exit from our state," LePage said. "People are moving out of the state."

He stated that the working class and "anybody with money in the bank" are moving out of Maine. LePage called the situation "horrendous," and dated the issue at least back to November, when voters approved a 3-percent increase in the income tax for anyone making more than $200,000. The 3 percent is intended to fund education further.

LePage said the state does not put enough money into classrooms. In the United States, the average is 64 cents of every dollar spent is allocated to classrooms, he said; in Maine, he added, that amount per dollar is 59 cents. He said that the average cost of running a school district in the U.S. is 2.4 percent of the school budget; he added that, in Maine, it's 5.5 percent.

"This is the problem," he said. "Every year, our student enrollment is dropping, very quickly, but we have not moved or changed the way we administer our schools."

LePage said Maine has 148 superintendents for 176,000 students. He said that statistic makes Maine an "outlier" among other states, and he noted that in Florida, there are 64 superintendents for 3 million students. He said Florida is ranked seventh among the best education systems in America, and that Maine is "in the middle of the pack."

"We're not the worst," LePage said, "but we're not in the top 10. The problem is, we're unwilling to fix the administration of our schools."

LePage said the state's problems with education will not be fixed in Augusta, "unless the people tell them to fix it."

LePage earned applause when he spoke of welfare reform, noting that children, disabled individuals and the elderly qualify for the "safety net" and will be provided services, but that those who are "able-bodied" need to "go to work, you need to go to school, or you need to volunteer your time because there is no free lunch."

"Free is expensive to somebody," he said.

ON TAXES

LePage said that Maine has the number-one highest rate of income tax in the country up to the first $1 million in income — which, he said, is fueling the migration out of the state. He said the issue is not just causing the state a loss of revenue, but also a "loss of brain power," as members of the professional class — the doctors, dentists, engineers, scientists, psychiatrists and others — are "going in droves."

"Taxation is the killer," LePage said.

LePage said that Maine needs to shift from a "poverty mentality to a prosperous mentality," noting that the richest states in the country are those with low or no income tax, a business-friendly atmosphere and low energy rates. LePage said making that transition from one mentality to another is "so difficult to do" because "people like to do the same thing they've always done," particularly when it comes to education and taxes.

LePage added that young people "get it," especially those who owe a lot on student loans; he said they're leaving Maine to live in regions where they can make the most money to pay off their student loans and start investing in their future. Regarding efforts to attract young people to Maine, or to keep them here, LePage spoke of two bills he passed, one calling for interest-free loans for everyone who pursues higher education in the state and then another calling for a dollar-for-dollar reduction in taxes for employers in Maine who pays off an employee's student debt.

LePage noted that the state of New Hampshire has no sales tax or income tax and is ranked number seventh among the highest in property taxes in America. Maine, he added, has "a very high income tax," a competitive sales tax, and the ninth highest property tax in the country.

"Think about that," he said. "We have a very, very big spending appetite. We are addicted to spending."

ON ENERGY

LePage stated that Maine does have the lowest energy rates in New England, but noted that "we don't compete with New England."

"We are a forest state. We are a fishing state," he said, noting the state's 17 million acres of forestry. "Agriculture is big. Those are our three primary industries. We compete with Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia and Alabama."

LePafe provided a chart compiled by the Energy Information Administration that shows that, of those states, Maine's electricity rates are by far the highest — 9.05 cents per kilowatt hour versus Wisconsin, which has the second-highest at 7.58 cents. The national average is 6.91 cents.

"We're no longer competitive," he said.

LePage noted that the state has lost numerous paper mills in the past ten years.

"People say there's no more printing press," he said. "I agree. The industry has changed. But let me tell you about the paper industry: it's growing around the world. Tissue paper — as the population grows, the tissue paper industry grows. Hand towels — it's growing."

One industry that's making a comeback is wax paper, LePage said.

"We went from wax paper to plastic. Now everyone is saying plastic is not biodegradable, and we want to get out of plastic. And wax paper is where it's going because it's biodegradable," he said.

As for alternative energy, LePage said solar and wind power are, at the moment, unreliable and will remain so until the ability to store those resources improves. Referring the Department of Energy statistics, LePage also described subsidy costs for wind and solar as too high.

ON YORK PINES

Rotarian Lawrence Furbish asked LePage for a state-level status update on efforts to bring York Pines, a theme park, to South Sanford. A local group has worked on this project for years now, at one point bringing high-profile consultants to the community to conduct a feasibility study. At that stage, LePage visited Sanford and met with those affiliated with the project.

LePage answered that he has been working on the project but stated that, for the companies that have been approached, critical mass and the region's climate have so far proven to be stumbling blocks. He said the project would likely gain momentum once started, but stated the park would need to be established as a destination, as "there's no critical mass to support it here."